A mime and his son

Smiles and laughter were very much in evidence at the B-Floor Room in Pridi Banomyong Institute earlier this month as Nuttapol “TaTa” Kummata, one-third of Thailand’s only professional pantomime troupe Babymime, brought his reworked “TaTa and TunTun Story” to the stage. The show, which he co-wrote with his son Nuttaput or “TunTun” and which debuted at the Bangkok Theatre Festival 2013, closed last night after a run of 15 performances in just 11 consecutive days.

   The creativity of the father and son in writing the script as well as their sincerity in acting it out made “TaTa and TunTun Story” an early Father’s Day treat and it is to be hoped that it will once again come to the stage in honour of that celebration.

   Set in what resembles their home, we watch as they get up from the bed they share, go into the shower and change into fresh clothes. It’s then time to eat and the father cooks breakfast for his son, who insists that his tastes are simple though the opposite would be nearer the truth./

   By this time the audience has understood that this relationship is the total opposite of that of many families where the parents are eager to get their kids into showbiz, perhaps so that they can quit their day jobs and become personal managers. 

   TunTun is an ordinary youngster whose dad happens to be a professional mime and he’s evidently proud of him. Whether TunTun will one day become a mime like TaTa is of little concern to his dad but given his upbringing, I’m sure he’ll grow up to be a good citizen..

   An unforgettable moment is when TunTun asks his father to buy a piano but TaTa can only afford a pianica. Watching the mime do everything he can – including emptying his lungs to put air into the melodica so his son can play “That Song” from “Titanic” and thus be on an equal footing with his peers – brought back many fond memories of my father. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one on the verge of tears at that moment.

   Towards the end, a longer tale is told – a parable about a broken family where the father and mother must split themselves between their son. The father is represented by the sun, the mother by the moon and the son by the earth and they ask for Rahu’s help in making the sun and moon simultaneously present. Eventually they discover that an eclipse is not really a solution to their family issues and they just have to live with it. This ending is somewhat contrived considering the high entertainment value and a wide variety of tales that we’ve experienced up to that point, not to mention the fact that the absence of the mother is never highlighted.

   In short, the 100-minute performance would have brought this message home more resonantly had TaTa sought help from a playwright or a dramaturg. Some scenes – like the one in which TaTa started his career as a street performer in Silom – could perhaps also be cut for the sake of conciseness. Plus, there should have been a break of a few days in the run as TunTun, who is not trained as a professional actor, appeared tired during last Wednesday’s performance.

 

FUN WITH YOUR BODY

Babymime will conduct a workshop every Monday and Thursday evening from Thursday through June 16. For more details, call (081) 915 7885 or check Facebook.com/pages/Babymime/48345122001.